


Facsimile

by Eggling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24927829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: “You’ll play more of these songs for me, won’t ye?”“Yes, if I remember any more. But Jamie - what if they’re notreallyfrom your time? What’s the point then?”Victoria finds a piano in the TARDIS and wonders how much she really knows.
Relationships: Jamie McCrimmon & Victoria Waterfield
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Facsimile

**Author's Note:**

> on [tumblr.](https://the--highlanders.tumblr.com/post/621993792255541248/facsimile)

“Oh, look, Jamie!” Victoria pushed the door all the way open, revealing a small, dark room. It was bare save for a piano and stool, both ornate enough that they might have been what the Doctor liked to call antiques were it not for their tell-tale shine of plastic. “Oh, isn’t she lovely?” She hovered her hands almost reverently over the piano’s keys, smiling down at it. “I don’t suppose the Doctor would mind if I -”

Jamie glanced around the room. In all his months on board the TARDIS, he could have sworn he had never seen the door to it before. It was almost as if the ship had shuffled the rooms around because it thought they might enjoy it. _You’re beginning to sound like the Doctor_ , he scolded himself. “I dinnae think he’d mind.”

Settling herself down in front of the piano, Victoria brushed at her dress as if expecting a much longer and fuller skirt and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She ran her fingers across the keys, raising her hand to examine the thin film of dust that clung to her skin. “What shall I play?” Tunelessly, she picked out a few delicate notes. “I can’t have forgotten every tune I knew.”

Jamie settled himself down on the floor beside the stool to grin up at her. “I didnae know ye played.”

She stared at him. “Of course I play! I wasn’t raised in a ditch, you know. I had a very reputable instructor.”

“Aye, I’m sure ye did.”

She stuck her elbow out towards his head, and he ducked away, laughing. “I shall play something for you,” she said, her voice clipped but hiding more laughter than true annoyance. “Not that you deserve it.”

Her first few notes were tentative, a little awkward, but she quickly relaxed into the song, leaning towards and away from the piano for emphasis as she played. Jamie closed his eyes, leaning back against the stool and letting his head fall against her side. The tune was unfamiliar to him, upbeat enough to make him tap his foot in parts but not enough to dance to. It snagged a few times as Victoria paused to frown or bite her lip before diving back into playing, but for the most part it traipsed along merrily enough. She finished with a flourish, pressing the keys down hard and looking over to beam down at him.

“Was I too out of practice?” she asked, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Ye played very nicely.” She smiled more widely, and a rush of pride filled Jamie’s chest. “What was the tune?”

Victoria’s face fell, and she frowned down at him. “Didn’t you know it?”

“Never heard it before, An’ I’ve got a good ear for tunes, ye know. I’d remember it.”

“But -” She bit her lip. “The Doctor _did_ pick you up in 1746, didn’t he? At Culloden?”

“Aye, ‘course he did.” Jamie levered himself up into a more comfortable position, letting out a huff with the effort of it. “I think I’d remember, ye know.”

“I always thought – well, I was told that was where the song came from.”

Jamie shrugged. “Wouldnae have been any of ours. Might’ve been one of the ones at the – _gall_ , ye know -” He waved one hand vaguely, hoping she would nod along, but her face remained blank. “Ye know, people from the rest of Scotland. Lowlanders! That’s it. Might’ve been one of their songs, I never knew all of those.”

“I suppose it must have been.”

Victoria was still looking doubtful, so Jamie nudged at her side, trying to muster up an encouraging smile. “Do ye know any more? I might know a different one.”

She brightened immediately, straightening up and spreading her fingers over the keys. “Yes, I think I remember another.”

The new tune was slower, almost mournful in parts, but Jamie was too distracted to be drawn into it, instead teasing apart every note in search of some familiarity. A few times he thought he recognised it at last, and almost let out an exclamation of excitement, but it always slipped away from him, taking an unexpected twist or turn. Of all the songs he remembered hearing in passing, in places and a time that seemed a lifetime ago, he could pin down none as the song Victoria was playing. But she looked so proud when she reached the end, smiling down at him expectantly, and he found he did not have the heart to tell her the truth.

“I might know it,” he said gently. She beamed again, the corners of her eyes crinkling, and his heart and lungs felt as if they were twisting and crumpling in his chest at the sight. “You’re good, ye know,” he added, by way of changing the subject. “Maybe the TARDIS wanted ye tae find this room.”

“I do hope she decides to keep it,” Victoria said. “I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed playing. I mustn’t have played since...” Her voice trailed away, and she bowed her head, wringing her hands in her lap. But she quickly shook herself to chase away whatever darkness had passed through her, turning to flash a smile at Jamie. “It would be nice to play more often,” she finished.

“Aye, I’d like tae hear ye play some more. An’ the Doctor would too.” Jamie pushed himself to his feet, holding out his hand to pull her up after him. “We could go an’ find him, if ye like.”

“Oh – oh, not yet.” Something was sparkling in Victoria’s eyes. “I couldn’t possibly play for him yet, not until I’ve practised some more.”

“Och, so I’m no’ as important, am I?” She pouted and pummelled his arm just hard enough for him to lean away from her, laughing. “Aye, alright, alright.”

“I don’t want to share it yet,” she said, running her hand over the side of the piano to make the plastic rustle and hiss beneath her fingers. “You won’t tell him, will you?”

“’Course not. An’ you’ll play more of these songs for me, won’t ye?”

“Yes, if I remember any more. But Jamie -” She pursed her lips, her face turning serious again. “What if they’re not _really_ from your time? What’s the point then?”

Her question took Jamie aback. The songs had been so foreign to him – but quite why anyone would want to pretend they were from his time, he could not imagine. “We could go tae the library,” he said, slowly and not a little reluctantly. “I bet the Doctor’s got a book or somethin’ that could tell us.”

“I suppose.” Victoria still looked crestfallen. “I thought you’d enjoy it, if I played a song you knew.”

“I did enjoy it,” Jamie said firmly. “An’ it was a nice thought.” He draped his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close. “Tell ye what, why don’t I teach ye some of the songs I do know? An’ maybe ye could figure out how tae play those.”

A faint smile flickered over her lips and into her eyes. “We could play them together.”

Grinning, Jamie tightened his hold on her a little, making her smile wider. “Aye, ‘course we could.”


End file.
